Configurable, Highly-Integrated Satellite Receiver

ABSTRACT

A direct broadcast satellite (DBS) reception assembly may comprise an integrated circuit that is configurable between or among a plurality of configurations based on content requested by client devices served by the DBS reception assembly. In a first configuration, multiple satellite frequency bands may be digitized by the integrated circuit as a single wideband signal. In a second configuration, the satellite frequency bands may be digitized by the integrated circuit as a plurality of separate narrowband signals. The integrated circuit may comprise a plurality of receive paths, each of the receive chains comprising a respective one of a plurality of low noise amplifiers and a plurality of analog-to-digital converters.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

This patent application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.13/783,130 filed Mar. 1, 2013, issued on Dec. 1, 2015 as U.S. Pat. No.9,203,535, which makes reference to, claims priority to and claimsbenefit from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/606,137filed on Mar. 2, 2012, now expired. This application is also acontinuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/356,265 which wasfiled Jan. 23, 2012, issued on May 13, 2014 as U.S. Pat. No. 8,725,104,and which claims priority to and benefit from U.S. Provisional PatentApplication 61/569,731 filed on Dec. 12, 2011, now expired.

The above-identified application is hereby incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Certain embodiments of the invention relate to communication systems.More specifically, certain embodiments of the invention relate tomethods and systems for a configurable, highly-integrated Satellitereceiver.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Existing methods and systems for satellite reception can be costly andinflexible. Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional andtraditional approaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art,through comparison of such systems with some aspects of the presentinvention as set forth in the remainder of the present application withreference to the drawings.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Systems and methods are provided for a configurable, highly integratedsatellite receiver, substantially as shown in and/or described inconnection with at least one of the figures and/or the appendices, asset forth more completely in the claims.

These and other advantages, aspects and novel features of the presentinvention, as well as details of an illustrated embodiment thereof, willbe more fully understood from the following description and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A depicts circuitry of a first example satellite receptionassembly.

FIG. 1B depicts circuitry of a second example satellite receptionassembly.

FIG. 2A depicts circuitry of a third example satellite receptionassembly.

FIG. 2B depicts circuitry of a fourth example satellite receptionassembly.

FIG. 3 depicts an example baseband processing circuit.

FIG. 4 depicts an example DBS subscriber installation.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart depicting an example process of a configurable,highly-integrated satellite receiver.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart depicting an example process of a configurable,highly-integrated satellite receiver.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As utilized herein the terms “circuits” and “circuitry” refer tophysical electronic components (i.e. hardware) and any software and/orfirmware (“code”) which may configure the hardware, be executed by thehardware, and or otherwise be associated with the hardware. As usedherein, for example, a particular processor and memory may comprise afirst “circuit” when executing a first one or more lines of code and maycomprise a second “circuit” when executing a second one or more lines ofcode. As utilized herein, “and/or” means any one or more of the items inthe list joined by “and/or”. As an example, “x and/or y” means anyelement of the three-element set {(x), (y), (x, y)}. As another example,“x, y, and/or z” means any element of the seven-element set {(x), (y),(z), (x, y), (x, z), (y, z), (x, y, z)}. As utilized herein, the term“exemplary” means serving as a non-limiting example, instance, orillustration. As utilized herein, the terms “e.g.,” and “for example”set off lists of one or more non-limiting examples, instances, orillustrations. As utilized herein, circuitry is “operable” to perform afunction whenever the circuitry comprises the necessary hardware andcode (if any is necessary) to perform the function, regardless ofwhether performance of the function is disabled, or not enabled, by someuser-configurable setting.

FIG. 1A depicts circuitry of a first example satellite receptionassembly. Shown in FIG. 1A are a first example subsystem 101A and asecond example subsystem 100. In an example implementation, the secondsubsystem 100 may be integrated on a first semiconductor die and thesubsystem 101A may comprise one or more second semiconductor dice and/orone or more discrete components. That is, components of the subsystem101A may be “off-chip” with respect to the subsystem 100.

The example subsystem 101A comprises a plurality of antennas 102 ₁-102_(B), a plurality of amplifiers 104 ₁-104 _(B), a plurality of filters106 ₁-106 _(B), a plurality of mixers 108 ₁-108 _(B), and a controllogic circuit 109, where B is an integer corresponding to the number ofreceive chains in the subsystem 100.

Each of the antennas 102 may be configured to capture signals of one ormore polarizations in one or more of a plurality of satellite frequencybands. For example, each of the antennas may be configured to captureone or more of: horizontally-polarized signals in a X/Ku low band (e.g.,˜10.7 GHz to ˜11.7 GHz), vertically-polarized signals in an X/Ku lowband (e.g., ˜10.7 GHz to ˜11.7 GHz), horizontally-polarized signals in aKu high band (e.g., ˜11.7 GHz to ˜12.75 GHz), vertically-polarizedsignals in a Ku high band (e.g., ˜11.7 GHz to ˜12.75 GHz),horizontally-polarized signals in a Ka low band (e.g., ˜17.3 GHz to˜17.7 GHz), vertically-polarized signals in a Ka low band (e.g., ˜17.3GHz to ˜17.7 GHz), horizontally-polarized signals in a Ka low band(e.g., ˜18.3 GHz to ˜18.8 GHz), vertically-polarized signals in a Ka lowband (e.g., ˜18.3 GHz to ˜18.8 GHz), horizontally-polarized signals in aKa high band (e.g., ˜19.7 GHz to ˜20.2 GHz), vertically-polarizedsignals in a Ku high band (e.g., ˜19.7 GHz to ˜20.2 GHz). As used herein“low” band and “high” band are relative words. Accordingly, a bandlabeled as “low” in one implementation may be labeled as “high” inanother implementation.

Each of the amplifiers 104 may be a low noise amplifier (LNA) operableto apply a gain to satellite signals captured by a correspondingantenna. In an example implementation, each of the amplifiers 104 may berealized using p-type high electron mobility transistors (PHEMT) and mayhave a ˜1 dB noise figure (NF). In an example implementation, one ormore of the amplifiers 104 may be enabled and disabled (e.g., byconnecting and disconnecting a supply voltage) via a control signal fromthe control logic 109. In an example implementation, a bandwidth, centerfrequency, and/or gain of one or more of the amplifiers 104 may becontrolled via a control signal from the control logic 109.

Each of the filters 106 may be an image reject filter configured to passonly a selected one or more satellite frequency bands to a correspondingmixer while rejecting signals outside the selected one or more satellitefrequency bands. In an example implementation, one or more of thefilters 106 may be enabled and disabled (e.g., by connecting anddisconnecting a supply voltage) via a control signal from control logic109. In an example implementation, the bandwidth and/or center frequencyof one or more of the filters 106 may be configurable via a controlsignal from the control logic 109.

Each of the mixers 108 may be configured to downconvert a satellitefrequency band to an intermediate frequency band (e.g., downconvert oneor more X, Ku, and/or Ka satellite frequency bands to L-band). In anexample implementation, one or more of the mixers 108 may be enabled anddisabled (e.g., by connecting and disconnecting a supply voltage) via acontrol signal from control logic 109. In an example implementation, afrequency of the local oscillator signal LO1 input to a particular oneof the mixers 108 may be determined by a control signal from the controllogic 109. For example, LO1 may be set to a first frequency fordownconversion of a first one or more satellite bands (e.g., a X/Ku lowband), a second frequency for downconversion of a second one or moresatellite bands (e.g., a Ku high band), a third frequency fordownconversion of a third one or more satellite bands (e.g., both a X/Kulow band and a Ku high band), a fourth frequency for downconversion of afourth one or more satellite bands (e.g., a Ka low band), a fifthfrequency for downconversion of a fifth one or more satellite bands(e.g., a Ka high band), and a sixth frequency for downconversion of asixth one or more satellite bands (e.g., both a Ka low band and a Kahigh band). In an example implementation, for downconversion of a firstsatellite band, LO1 may be approximately 9.75 GHz when downconverting aX/Ku low band to output an intermediate frequency band of approximately0.95-1.95 GHz, and LO1 may be 10.6 GHz when downconverting a Ku highband to output an intermediate frequency band of approximately 1.1-2.15GHz. In another example implementation, LO1 may be 10.4 GHz or 13.05 GHzwhen downconverting European Full Ku-band signals from 10.7 GHz to 12.75GHz to output an intermediate frequency band of approximately 300 MHz to2350 MHz. In an example implementation, one or more of the mixers may bea Ka-band mixer with a 42 dB gain, a 7 dB NF, and a ˜31.6 dBc integratedphase noise (PN). For example, a mixer 108 may be a TFF 1017HN/N1 NXP KaBand Mixer.

In an example implementation, the control logic 109 may configure thecontrol signals it generates for components of the subsystem 101A basedon information received from the subsystem 100 (e.g., from basebandprocessing circuit 119). For example, the subsystem 100 may conveyinformation as to which channels are to be provided to client devices(e.g., set-top boxes) served by a Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS)and/or Fixed Satellite Service (FSS) satellite reception assembly inwhich the subsystems 101A and 100 reside. In an example implementation,the control logic 109 may provide supply power to components of thesubassembly 101A and/or 100 through positive and negative power rails,for example. The control logic 109 may, for example, providetemperature-compensated current and voltage biases. The control logic109 may generate supply voltages based on an external DC supply such aspower-over-Ethernet (POE), for example. Moreover, the control logic 109may be operable to generate digital satellite equipment control version1.1 (DiSEqC 1.1) compliant voltages (e.g., 13-18 Volts). The controllogic 109 may be operable to provide voltages for other DiSEqC versionsas well.

The example subsystem 100 comprises a plurality of amplifiers 110 ₁-110_(B), a plurality of mixers 112 ₁-112 _(B), a plurality of amplifiers114 ₁-114 _(B), a plurality of filters 116 ₁-116 _(B), a plurality ofanalog-to-digital converters 118, and a baseband processing circuit 119,where B is an integer corresponding to the number of receive chains inthe subsystem 100.

Each of the plurality of amplifiers 110 ₁-110 _(B) may be a low noiseamplifier (LNA). In an example implementation, one or more of theamplifiers 110 may be enabled and disabled (e.g., by connecting anddisconnecting a supply voltage) via a control signal from, for example,the baseband processing circuit 119. In an example implementation, abandwidth, center frequency, and/or gain of one or more of theamplifiers 110 may be controlled via a control signal from, for examplethe baseband processing circuit 119.

Each of the plurality of mixers 112 ₁-112 _(B) may be configured todownconvert an intermediate frequency band (e.g., in the L-band) tobaseband. In an example implementation, one or more of the mixers 108may be enabled and disabled (e.g., by connecting and disconnecting asupply voltage) via a control signal from, for example, the basebandprocessing circuit 119. In an example implementation, a frequency of thelocal oscillator signal LO2 input to a particular one of the mixers 112may be determined by a control signal from, for example, the basebandprocessing circuit 119. The frequency of the LO2 signal for a particularone of the mixers may be determined based on which satellite frequencyband the receive chain to which the particular mixer belongs has beenconfigured to process. For example, there may be six frequencies for LO2corresponding to six possible satellite bands (e.g., low band 1, highband 1, combined high band 1 and low band 1, low band 2, high band 2,and combined high band and low band 2). As another example, thefrequency of LO2 may be fixed where the LO1 signals are selected togenerate a common intermediate frequency band regardless of the selectedsatellite band. In an example implementation, each LO2 may be betweenapproximately 0.3 GHz and approximately 2.3 GHz.

Each of the plurality of amplifiers 114 ₁-114 _(B) may be atransimpedance amplifier. In an example implementation, one or more ofthe amplifiers 114 may be enabled and disabled (e.g., by connecting anddisconnecting a supply voltage) via a control signal from, for example,the baseband processing circuit 119. In an example implementation, again of one or more of the amplifiers 114 may be determined by a controlsignal from, for example, the baseband processing circuit 119.

Each of the plurality of filters 116 ₁-116 _(B) may be operable toselect a desired band of frequencies to pass to a corresponding one ofADCs 118 ₁-118 _(B) and reject other frequencies. In an exampleimplementation, one or more of the filters 116 may be enabled anddisabled (e.g., by connecting and disconnecting a supply voltage) via acontrol signal from, for example, the baseband processing circuit 119.In an example implementation, a bandwidth and/or center frequency of apassband of one or more of the filters 116 may be determined by acontrol signal from, for example, the baseband processing circuit 119.For example, a particular filter 116 may be configured to have a firstpassband when a receive chain to which the filter belongs is configuredfor processing a first satellite band (e.g., low band 1), to have asecond passband when a receive chain to which the filter belongs isconfigured for processing a second satellite band (e.g., high band 1),to have a third passband when a receive chain to which the filterbelongs is configured for processing a third satellite band (e.g., bothlow band 1 and high band 1), to have a fourth passband when a receivechain to which the filter belongs is configured for processing a fourthsatellite band (e.g., low band 2), to have a fifth passband when areceive to which the filter belongs is configured for processing a fifthsatellite band (e.g., high band 2), and to have a sixth passband when areceive chain to which the filter belongs is configured for processing asixth satellite band (e.g., both low band 2 and high band 2).

Each of the plurality of analog-to-digital converters 118 ₁-118 _(B) maybe operable to concurrently digitize the entirety of the baseband signalcorresponding to the satellite band selected for processing the receivechain to which the ADC belongs. For example, each ADC 118 may beoperable to concurrently digitize the entirety of a frequency band up toapproximately 2 GHz wide.

The baseband processing circuit 119 may be operable to perform variousdigital signal processing operations such as, for example,synchronization/timing recovery, equalization, demapping,deinterleaving, image cancellation, forward error correction (FEC)decoding, frequency translation, and/or channelization. In an exampleimplementation, the circuit 119 may comprise circuitry for generatingsignals for outputting (e.g., via a coaxial cable and/or wirelessly)received satellite data to a set-top box, or other indoor unit. Anexample baseband processor 119 is described below with reference to FIG.3.

FIG. 1B depicts circuitry of a second example satellite receptionassembly. Shown in FIG. 1B is a subsystem 101B and the subsystem 100.

The subsystem 101B may be similar to the subsystem 101A described abovewith reference to FIG. 1A. The subsystem 101B differs from the subsystem101A in that each receive chain comprises multiple amplifiers 152 and154 (each of which may be similar to or the same as each of theamplifiers 104) arranged in parallel, rather than a single amplifier104. In this regard, the input to each filter 106 may comprise thecombined output of a corresponding pair of amplifiers 152 and 154. In anexample implementation, each amplifier 152 may be configured to amplifya first satellite band (e.g., low band 1) and each amplifier 154 may beconfigured to amplify a second satellite band (e.g., high band 1).Accordingly, using receive chain 1 as an example, selecting a firstsatellite band (e.g., low band 1) for processing by receive chain 1 maycorrespond to enabling amplifier 152 ₁ and disabling amplifier 154 ₁,selecting a second satellite band (e.g., high band 1) for processing byreceive chain 1 may correspond to enabling amplifier 154 ₁ and disablingamplifier 152 ₁, and selecting a third satellite band (e.g., both lowband 1 and high band 1) for processing by receive chain 1 may correspondto enabling both amplifier 152 ₁ and amplifier 154 ₁.

FIG. 2A depicts circuitry of a third example satellite receptionassembly. Shown are a subassembly 201A and a subassembly 200. Likesubassembly 101A of FIG. 1A, subassembly 201A comprises a plurality ofthe antennas 102 ₁-102 _(B) and a plurality of amplifiers 104 ₁-104_(B). Unlike the subassembly 101A, the subassembly 201A does notcomprise mixers 108 ₁-108 ₁₃. Accordingly, the subassembly 201A isconfigured for interfacing to a direct conversion subassembly 200, whichaccepts satellite frequency input—as opposed to the subassembly 100 ofFIGS. 1A and 1B which accepts intermediate frequency input.

The example subsystem 200 comprises a plurality of amplifiers 210 ₁-210_(B), a plurality of mixers 212 ₁-212 _(B), a plurality of amplifiers114 ₁-114 _(B), a plurality of filters 116 ₁-116 _(B), a plurality ofanalog-to-digital converters 118 ₁-118 _(B), and a baseband processingcircuit 119, where B is an integer corresponding to the number ofreceive chains of the subsystem 200.

The plurality of amplifiers 210 ₁-210 _(B) may be similar to theamplifiers 110 ₁-110 _(B) but may be configured for handling radiofrequency signals in satellite frequency bands (e.g., X, Ku, K, and/orKa band(s)) whereas the amplifiers 110 ₁-110 _(B) may be configured tohandle signals in an intermediate frequency band (e.g., L band).

The plurality of mixers 212 ₁-212 _(B) may be similar to the mixers 112₁-112 _(B) but may be configured for converting RF signals directly tobaseband rather than converting IF signals to baseband. Accordingly, thelocal oscillator signals LO3 ₁-LO3 _(B) input to the 212 ₁-212 _(B) maybe, for example, substantially higher in frequency than the signals LO2₁-LO2 _(B).

Each of the plurality of amplifiers 114 ₁-114 _(B), filters 116 ₁-116_(B), analog-to-digital converters 118 ₁-118 _(B), and the basebandprocessing circuit 119 may be as described with reference to FIG. 1A.

FIG. 2B depicts circuitry of a fourth example satellite receptionassembly. The subsystem 201B may be similar to the subsystem 101Bdescribed above with reference to FIG. 1B. Like subassembly 101B of FIG.1B, subassembly 201B comprises a plurality of the antennas 152 ₁-152_(B) and 154 ₁-154 _(B) and a plurality of amplifiers 156 ₁-156 _(B) and158 ₁-158 _(B). Unlike the subassembly 101B, the subassembly 201B doesnot comprise mixers 108 ₁-108 ₁₃. Accordingly, the subassembly 201B isconfigured for interfacing to a direct conversion subassembly 200, whichaccepts satellite frequency input—as opposed to the subassembly 100 ofFIGS. 1A and 1B which accepts intermediate frequency input.

Some of the advantages provided by the direct-conversion architecturesshown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, over the IF architectures shown in FIGS. 1Aand 1B, include the ability to eliminate one conversion step (e.g.,mixer 108), which may reduce power consumption and circuit area. Anotherbenefit may be, in instances where MoCA, terrestrial broadcasttelevision, and/or other signals are combined with the satellite signalfor input to the indoor unit, the downconversion to baseband may occurprior to such combining. This may relieve the front-end dynamic rangerequirements.

Although the control logic 109 is shown as part of subsystem 101A and101B in FIGS. 1A and 1B, and part of subsystem 201A and 201B in FIGS. 2Aand 2B, such implementations are only for purposes of illustration andnot limitation.

FIG. 3 depicts an example baseband processing circuit. The examplebaseband circuit 119 comprises digital front end (DFE) circuitry 302,circuitry 304 for interfacing to an indoor unit (e.g., set-top box) andcircuitry 306 for combining an output of the satellite receptionassembly with other signals (e.g., terrestrial broadcast televisionsignals) for transmission to the indoor unit.

The DFE 302 may be operable to perform various digital signal processingoperations on one or more signals output by one or more ADCs 118. TheDFE 302 may be operable to channelize the signal(s) from the ADC(s) anddemodulate a selected one or more of the channels to recover datastream(s) (e.g., MPEG transport streams) contained therein. Demodulationoperations may include, for example, synchronization and timingrecovery, equalization, symbol de-mapping, de-interleaving, and FECdecoding. The recovered data stream(s) may be conveyed to the circuitry304 where it is processed for transmission to an indoor unit.

The circuitry 304 may be operable to process data received from thecircuit 302 to generate signals suitable for transmission to an indoorunit. In an example implementation, the circuitry 304 may modulate thedata onto one or more RF carriers in accordance with one or morestandards (e.g., DVB-S, ATSC, etc.). In such an embodiment, thecircuitry 304 may be operable to perform replication and/or frequencytranslation to perform band/channel stacking. In an exampleimplementation, the circuitry 304 may process the data and transmit itto the indoor unit in accordance with a bus protocol such as USB, RGMII,PCIe, HDMI, or the like. In an example implementation, the circuitry 304may packetize the data and transmit it to the indoor unit in accordancewith, for example, the IEEE 802.3 family of standards, the IEEE 802.11family of standards, multimedia over coax alliance (MoCA), and/or anyother suitable networking protocols/standards.

In an example implementation, where the circuitry 304 outputs an RFmodulated signal, circuitry 306 may be operable to combine the output ofcircuitry 304 with other RF signals. For example, satellite contentoutput in a first frequency band by the circuitry 304 may be combinedwith signals of a second frequency band (e.g., terrestrial broadcastsignals and/or MoCA signals). The combiner 306 may, for example, performlevel adjustment of the various inputs prior to combining.

The output of the circuit 306 (or circuit 304 where 306 is not present)may be placed onto a communication medium (e.g., coaxial cable) thatconnects the satellite reception assembly to one or more indoor units.

FIG. 4 depicts an example DBS and/or FSS subscriber installation. Shownis a home or office of a DBS and/or FSS subscriber. A satellitereception assembly 412 is mounted to the exterior, an indoor unit is inthe interior, and the two are connected via medium 308. The satellitereception assembly (e.g., a DBS/FSS “dish”) 412 comprises a supportstructure to which are mounted a reflector and a receiver subassembly.The receiver subassembly comprises a subassembly 401, which maycorrespond to the subsystem 101A and/or 201A, and a subsystem 400, whichmay correspond to the subsystem 100 and/or 200. The receiver subassemblymay be mounted to an arm or “boom” of the support structure such thatone or more antennas 102, 152, and/or 154 (e.g., horn antennas) aremounted at or near a focal point of the reflector. The indoor unit 402may comprise, for example, a set-top box, television, personal computer,or other client device configured to accept input in one or more formatsoutput by the satellite reception assembly 412.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart depicting an example process of a configurable,highly-integrated satellite receiver. The process begins with block 502in which it is determined (e.g., by circuitry of the indoor unit 402and/or circuitry of the satellite reception assembly 412) that channelsbeing requested by client devices served by the satellite receptionassembly 412 lie in multiple satellite bands. For example, it may bedetermined that one or more of the channels lies in low band 1 (e.g.,X/Ku low band) and one or more of the channels lies in high band 1(e.g., Ku high band).

In block 504, the satellite reception assembly 412 is configured toprocess the multiple satellite bands carrying the requested channels. Inan example implementation, the satellite reception assembly isconfigured to process the multiple satellite bands via a single receivechain. For purposes of illustration, it is assumed receive chain 1 isselected for processing the multiple bands.

For the implementation shown in FIG. 1A, block 504 may comprise poweringup amplifier 104 ₁, filter 106 ₁, mixer 108 ₁, amplifier 110 ₁, mixer112 ₁, amplifier 114 ₁, filter 116 ₁, and ADC 118 ₁. Other components ofother receive chains may, for example, be powered down if all requestedchannels are in the satellite bands to be processed by receive chain 1.Conversely, if the requested channels span more satellite bands than canbe handled by a single receive chain, then components of additionalreceive chains may be powered up.

For the implementation shown in FIG. 1B, block 504 may comprise poweringup amplifiers 156 ₁ and 158 ₁, filter 106 ₁, mixer 108 ₁, amplifier 110_(k), mixer 112 ₁, amplifier 114 ₁, filter 116 ₁, and ADC 118 ₁. Othercomponents of other receive chains may, for example, be powered down ifall requested channels are in the satellite bands to be processed byreceive chain 1. Conversely, if the requested channels span moresatellite bands than can be handled by a single receive chain, thencomponents of additional receive chains may be powered up.

For the implementation shown in FIG. 2A, block 504 may comprise poweringup amplifier 104 ₁, amplifier 210 ₁, mixer 212 ₁, amplifier 114 ₁,filter 116 ₁, and ADC 118 ₁. Other components of other receive chainsmay, for example, be powered down if all requested channels are in thesatellite bands to be processed by receive chain 1. Conversely, if therequested channels span more satellite bands than can be handled by asingle receive chain, then components of additional receive chains maybe powered up.

For the implementation shown in FIG. 2B, block 504 may comprise poweringup amplifiers 156 ₁ and 158 ₁, amplifier 210 ₁, mixer 212 ₁, amplifier114 ₁, filter 116 ₁, and ADC 118 ₁. Other components of other receivechains may, for example, be powered down if all requested channels arein the satellite bands to be processed by receive chain 1. Conversely,if the requested channels span more satellite bands than can be handledby a single receive chain, then components of additional receive chainsmay be powered up.

In block 506, energy of the multiple bands may be captured by thepowered-up antenna 102 ₁ (or antennas 152 ₁ and 154 ₁) and conveyed toamplifier 104 ₁ (or amplifiers 156 ₁ and 158 ₁). In block 508, thecaptured signal(s) may be amplified by one or more amplifiers togenerate an amplified wideband RF signal.

In block 510, the amplified wideband RF signal may be downconverted tobaseband (e.g., in two stages as in FIGS. 1A and 1B, or in one stage asin FIGS. 2A and 2B). In block 512, the baseband signal may be filteredand digitized by filter 116 ₁ and ADC 118 ₁.

In block 514, digital baseband processing may be performed to recoverone or more data streams. The digital baseband processing may comprise,for example, synchronization, equalization, channelization, de-mapping,de-interleaving, image cancellation, and FEC decoding.

In block 516, the data streams may be processed for transmission to anindoor unit. Such processing may comprise, for example, implementing aprotocol stack of one or more communication standards (e.g., IEEE 802.3and/or IEEE 802.11), re-modulating the data stream(s) onto one or moreRF carriers (e.g., in accordance with DVB-S, ATSC, or some otherstandard), and/or any other processing necessary for formatting andcommunicating the data stream(s) in a manner supported by the indoorunit(s). In block 520, the data stream(s) may be transmitted to theindoor unit(s) via a coaxial cable and/or wirelessly, for example.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart depicting an example process of a configurable,highly-integrated satellite receiver. The process of FIG. 6 may beperformed, for example, as part of block(s) 502 and/or 504 of FIG. 5.The process begins with block 604 when a plurality of channels isselected by the indoor unit. For example, four tuners of the indoor unitmay select four channels to be recorded at the current time. In block606, it is determined which satellite bands and/or polarizationscorrespond to the four selected channels. In block 608, the subsystems400 and 401 are configured based on which satellite bands and/orpolarizations are to be received by the satellite reception assembly 412in order to provide the four selected channels to the indoor unit viathe medium 308.

In block 610, the subsystem 400 and 401 are configured to capture allthe necessary satellite bands/polarizations. Which receive chains areselected for processing which satellite bands/polarizations may bedetermined based on energy consumption considerations, for example. Forexample, assuming each of the four channels is on one of low band 1,high band 1, low band 2, and high band 2, there are at least threeconfigurations possible. In a first configuration, each of four receivepaths in the satellite reception assembly may be configured to processone of the four bands. In a second configuration a first receive chainmay be configured to process low band 1 and high band 1, a second chainmay be configured to processes low band 2, and a third chain may beconfigured to process high band 2. In a third configuration a firstreceive chain may be configured to process low band 1 and high band 1, asecond chain may be configured to processes low band 2 and high band 2.

A direct broadcast satellite (DBS) and/or Fixed Satellite Service (FSS)reception assembly may comprise an integrated circuit (e.g., subsystem200) that is configurable among a plurality of configurations based oncontent requested by client devices served by the DBS/FSS receptionassembly. In a first configuration, multiple satellite frequency bandsmay be digitized by the integrated circuit as a single wideband signal(e.g., a single signal output by amplifier 104 ₁ or the combined outputsof amplifiers 156 ₁ and 158 ₁). In a second configuration, the satellitefrequency bands may be digitized by the integrated circuit as aplurality of separate narrowband signals (e.g., as outputs of multipleamplifiers 104 ₁-104 _(x), where X is an integer).

Other embodiments of the invention may provide a non-transitory computerreadable medium and/or storage medium, and/or a non-transitory machinereadable medium and/or storage medium, having stored thereon, a machinecode and/or a computer program having at least one code sectionexecutable by a machine and/or a computer, thereby causing the machineand/or computer to perform processes described herein.

Accordingly, the present invention may be realized in hardware,software, or a combination of hardware and software. The presentinvention may be realized in a centralized fashion in at least onecomputer system, or in a distributed fashion where different elementsare spread across several interconnected computer systems. Any kind ofcomputer system or other apparatus adapted for carrying out the methodsdescribed herein is suited. A typical combination of hardware andsoftware may be a general-purpose computer system with a computerprogram that, when being loaded and executed, controls the computersystem such that it carries out processes described herein.

The present invention may also be embedded in a computer programproduct, which comprises all the features enabling the implementation ofthe methods described herein, and which when loaded in a computer systemis able to carry out these methods. Computer program in the presentcontext means any expression, in any language, code or notation, of aset of instructions intended to cause a system having an informationprocessing capability to perform a particular function either directlyor after either or both of the following: a) conversion to anotherlanguage, code or notation; b) reproduction in a different materialform.

While the present invention has been described with reference to certainembodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art thatvarious changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted withoutdeparting from the scope of the present invention. In addition, manymodifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material tothe teachings of the present invention without departing from its scope.Therefore, it is intended that the present invention not be limited tothe particular embodiment disclosed, but that the present invention willinclude all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.

1-18. (canceled)
 19. A system comprising: a satellite receiver operableto control whether a receive chain is configured into a narrowbandconfiguration or a wideband configuration according to content requestedby one or more client devices served by the system, wherein the receivechain comprises analog circuity.
 20. The system of claim 19, wherein: inthe narrowband configuration, the receive chain is operable todownconvert and digitize one of a first frequency band and a secondfrequency band; and in the wideband configuration, the receive chain isoperable to downconvert and digitize both the first frequency band andthe second frequency band.
 21. The system of claim 20, wherein: thefirst frequency band is a low band in the X and/or Ku band; and thesecond frequency band is a high band in the X and/or Ku band.
 22. Thesystem of claim 21 wherein: the low band is from approximately 10.7 GHzto approximately 11.7 GHz; and the high band is from approximately 11.7GHz to approximately 12.75 GHz.
 23. The system of claim 20, wherein: thefirst frequency band is a low Ka band; and the second frequency band isa high Ka band.
 24. The system of claim 23, wherein the low Ka band andthe high Ka band are between 17.3 GHz and 20.2 GHz.
 25. The system ofclaim 20, wherein the first frequency band and the second frequency bandare discontiguous.
 26. The system of claim 19, wherein: in thenarrowband configuration, an input of the receive chain is an output ofa single amplifier; and in the wideband configuration, the input of thereceive chain is a combined output of a plurality of amplifiers arrangedin parallel.
 27. The system of claim 19, wherein the system comprises abaseband processor operable to: when the receive chain is in thewideband configuration, channelize a wideband signal and process one ormore selected channels of the wideband signal for transmission to aset-top box; and when the receive chain is in the narrowbandconfiguration, channelize a narrowband signal and process one or moreselected channels of the narrowband signal for transmission to theset-top box.
 28. The system of claim 19, wherein the satellite receiveris operable to independently control the configuration of a plurality ofreceive chains.
 29. A method comprising: controlling, by control logic,whether a receive chain is configured into a narrowband configuration ora wideband configuration, at any given time, according to contentrequested by one or more client devices served by a satellite receiver,wherein the receive chain comprises analog circuitry.
 30. The method ofclaim 29, comprising: when in the narrowband configuration,downconverting and digitizing, by the receive chain, one of a firstfrequency band and a second frequency band; and when in the widebandconfiguration, downconverting and digitizing, by the receive chain, bothof the first frequency band and the second frequency band.
 31. Themethod of claim 30, wherein: the first frequency band is a low band inthe X and/or Ku band; and the second frequency band is a high band inthe X and/or Ku band.
 32. The method of claim 31, wherein: the low bandis from approximately 10.7 GHz to approximately 11.7 GHz; and the highband is from approximately 11.7 GHz to approximately 12.75 GHz.
 33. Themethod of claim 30, wherein: the first frequency band is a low Ka band;and the second frequency band is a high Ka band.
 34. The method of claim33, wherein the low Ka band and the high Ka band are between 17.3 GHzand 20.2 GHz.
 35. The method of claim 30 wherein the first frequencyband and the second frequency bands are discontiguous.
 36. The method ofclaim 29, wherein: in the narrowband configuration, an input of thereceive chain is an output of a single amplifier; and in the widebandconfiguration, the input of the receive chain is a combined output of aplurality of amplifiers arranged in parallel.
 37. The method of claim29, comprising performing by a baseband processor: when the receivechain is in the wideband configuration: digitizing a wideband signal;and processing one or more selected channels of the digitized widebandsignal for transmission to a set-top box; and when the receive chain isin the narrowband configuration: digitizing a narrowband signal; andprocessing one or more selected channels of the digitized narrowbandsignal for transmission to the set-top box.
 38. The method of claim 29,wherein the control logic is operable to independently control theconfiguration of a plurality of receive chains.